If you’re someone who ditches an artist once the mainstream latches on then you’ll be overlooking a real gem with Lianne La Havas’s follow-up to her debut album ‘Is Your Love Big Enough?’, which peaked in July at Number 4 in the UK album chart.
La Havas is one of only a few acts, the last of which was probably Florence and the Machine, to appeal simultaneously to the chin-stroking 6music listener and the ringtone enthusiast bopping along to Radio 1 – who else could have their last single branded Fearne Cotton’s ‘Big Thing’ and still draw praise from the likes of Bon Iver and Bombay Bicycle Club?
‘Forget’ – released as an EP, download and vinyl on September 17th by Warner Bros – is a low-key but vibrant rejection of a partner’s peace offering, a song in La Havas’s honour. “Waste all your time writing love songs, but you don’t love me.”
La Havas’s confident and playful style, underpinned on ‘Forget’ by crashing drums and a jerky riff from an electric guitar, does a lot to separate her from the great mass of acoustic-plucking singer/ songwriters, mumbling into their haircuts. Along with the likes of Hollie Cook, La Havas is writing bold, intelligent pop songs that you could enjoy, not just alone in your bedroom, but while dancing in front of the main stage at any of the summer’s festivals.
Such a strong release so soon after ‘Is Your Love Big Enough?’ is a promising sign and suggests La Havas is eager and bursting with ideas; we should hope the 22-year-old continues to create original, clever and exciting music at this rate for decades. A nationwide tour scheduled for October shows she has no plans to slow down yet.
Fri October 5th 2012 - ABC, Glasgow
Sat October 6th 2012 - Queens Hall, Edinburgh
Sun October 7th 2012 - Liverpool Academy, Liverpool
Mon October 8th 2012 - The Junction Cambridge, Cambridge
Wed October 10th 2012 - HMV Ritz, Manchester
Thu October 11th 2012 - O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire, London
Fri October 12th 2012 - HMV Birmingham Institute, Birmingham
Sun October 14th 2012 - Stylus, Pure & Mine at Leeds University Union, Leeds
Mon October 15th 2012 - Olympia Theatre, Dublin
Wed October 17th 2012 - The Old Fire Station, Bournemouth
Thu October 18th 2012 - Brighton Concorde 2, Brighton
Sat October 20th 2012 - Leadmill, Sheffield
Sun October 21st 2012 - O2 Academy Bristol, Bristol
Mon October 22nd 2012 - O2 Academy Oxford, Oxford
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La Havas is one of only a few acts, the last of which was probably Florence and the Machine, to appeal simultaneously to the chin-stroking 6music listener and the ringtone enthusiast bopping along to Radio 1 – who else could have their last single branded Fearne Cotton’s ‘Big Thing’ and still draw praise from the likes of Bon Iver and Bombay Bicycle Club?
